TMOD-10. THE ROLE OF IDH1 R132H MUTATION IN GLIOMA – AN INVESTIGATION BY GENOME-EDITING IN HUMAN INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS

BACKGROUND

Hot-spot mutations in the Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) cause a new catalytic function resulting in the production of 2-HG, a hallmark in the development of low-grade glioma. The tumorigenic mechanism of this mutation as well as the cell of origin are not known and there is a lack of suitable disease models. Thus, we aim to create a model mimicking glioma development by introducing the IDH1 R132H into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) and investigate the influence on stem cell properties and cell differentiation in neuronal progenitor cells.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We use CRISPR/Cas9 based genome editing to induce the IDH1 R132H mutation into healthy-control-derived hiPSCs. Successful introduction of the mutation was confirmed on DNA, RNA and protein level. The hiPSCs are then differentiated into cerebral organoids and characterized using transcriptome sequencing and methylation arrays.

RESULTS

We successfully introduced the IDH1 R132H mutation into hiPSCs and confirmed expression of the mutated protein by Western Blot. Metabolite measurement using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) showed a forty times increased concentration of 2-HG in IDH-mutated compared to the wildtype hiPSCs, proving that the mutated enzyme is functional. To investigate effects of IDH1 R132H on cell differentiation, we generated cerebral organoids from our iPSC-models. The IDH1 R132H mutation did not inhibit cell differentiation or maturation of cerebral organoids but led to a downregulation of splicosome, proteasome and DNA repair enzymes as well as an upregulation of ECM components.

CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK

hiPSCs with R132H mutation pose a promising model for investigations on early glioma development. We are currently step-wise including TP53 and ATRX loss of function mutations in our hiPSC models to recapitulating tumor development in vivo.

Mutant IDH1 Differently Affects Redox State and Metabolism in Glial Cells of Normal and Tumor Origin

IDH1^R132H (isocitrate dehydrogenase 1) mutations play a key role in the development of low-grade gliomas. IDH1^wt converts isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate while reducing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP⁺), whereas IDH1^R132H uses α-ketoglutarate and NADPH to generate the oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG). While the effects of 2-HG have been the subject of intense research, the 2-HG independent effects of IDH1^R132H are still ambiguous. The present study demonstrates that IDH1^R132H expression but not 2-HG alone leads to significantly decreased tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites, reduced proliferation, and enhanced sensitivity to irradiation in both glioblastoma cells and astrocytes in vitro. Glioblastoma cells, but not astrocytes, showed decreased NADPH and NAD⁺ levels upon IDH1^R132H transduction. However, in astrocytes IDH1^R132H led to elevated expression of the NAD-synthesizing enzyme nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT). These effects were not 2-HG mediated. This suggests that IDH1^R132H cells utilize NAD⁺ to restore NADP pools, which only astrocytes could compensate via induction of NAMPT. We found that the expression of NAMPT is lower in patient-derived IDH1-mutant glioma cells and xenografts compared to IDH1-wildtype models. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data analysis confirmed lower NAMPT expression in IDH1-mutant versus IDH1-wildtype gliomas. We show that the IDH1 mutation directly affects the energy homeostasis and redox state in a cell-type dependent manner. Targeting the impairments in metabolism and redox state might open up new avenues for treating IDH1-mutant gliomas.